Like Stupefy
by neverland-x
Summary: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was facing strikes that could lead to devastation (or the park closing for a while). They were hiring anyone who could pick up a stick and wave it, and those were skills Harry could pick up in no time. A mere ocean away a magical world awaited, in which getting hammered on a non-alcoholic drink and flying on cleaning equipment was the done thing.


The flight over had been less comfortable than Harry would have liked. Getting the back of his chair kicked by some pissy kid who "wanted a lollipop!" was not the way he would have normally liked to spend a journey, but he could put up with it.

So it was now that Harry was in a more comfortable position (but still not much so), shaking hands with a beefy man with sweaty palms. As Harry sat down his gaze trailed over the pictures stood proudly on the man's desk, all depicting him with various actors and actresses, rather than his family. Not even a photo of a pet dog.

"So," the man began. "Harry Styles, 18 years of age, hometown is Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, Britain? Am I right?"

"Yes sir," Harry replied.

"Quite a lot of you Brits over here. You all love worshipping Queen Rowling."

Harry had soon learned Mr Beeslee was a man who valued business over friendship, when he had walked in smiling and Mr Beeslee hadn't returned the gesture.

Not that Harry needed a smile. All Harry needed was a job to fund his university fees until his stepfather came out of unemployment. And by the way things had gone so far in America, Harry hoped that was soon.

Harry had only intended to get a small summer job. It wasn't until he heard the rumours of strikes in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter that Harry had packed his bags and shipped himself of to the US, with no warning to his family and friends back home.

"You a fan of Harry Potter?" Mr Beeslee asked, leaning back in his softly padded chair.

Harry wasn't sure how to answer. He figured if he said yes he'd be more likely to get the job, so…

"Yeah, massive."

"Don't lie kid." Harry spluttered at the large man's reply.

"None of you kids do, I get it, you need a job and this is an easier option when compared to door-to-door sales of double glazing." Harry was still utterly bemused.

"But it's okay, kid, you want a job, you've got a job." The man opened a drawer and got a folder out before continuing.

"Here's your room key," and he handed Harry a silver keychain with a Harry Potter logo imprinted on it. "And you start tomorrow. Get some sleep because you're up at five am for debriefing on this season. It's summer, and it's busy, so get ready for a load of picture taking and whatever else you kids have to do."

Harry was finding it hard to take in that it'd been that easy to blag his way into a job. All it took was a lie that didn't matter anyway and he'd found himself with a new job role.

"I'll buzz up one of your lot to take you round," Mr Beeslee said, reaching for the phone.

"My lot sir?"

"Another one from the UK. There's a few of you. He's a good kid at heart, he's just gotta learn to tone down the attitude. He's got massive hair too." Harry watched as Mr Beeslee dialled a number and raised the receiver to his ear.

"Malik, get up here, got a new kid for you to take care of… No he's not… No he… Just get up here," and he put down the phone and lit a cigarette, lighting it with a lighter Harry was sure they had made to look like a wand. He tapped the cigarette on the side of a lightning bolt shaped ashtray. How cliché this place was.

Before he knew it, Harry's hand was enveloped in the larger, sweatier one once more, and was being shaken vigorously.

"Pleasure meeting you kid, Zayn'll meet you outside, just watch his attitude, yeah? Have a magical day." Harry saved his eye roll for when he was out of Mr Beeslee's sight.

He was stood outside for several minutes before a thin guy wearing grey trackies and a white top came sauntering up to him, his dark hair styled into a quiff.

"Alright? I'm Zayn, your new roommate. Cheers for coming, mate, I got lonely in a room by myself some nights." Suddenly, Zayn wrapped his arms tightly around Harry, hugging him. Harry was taken aback; it seemed quite an affectionate greeting.

"And you are?" Zayn asked, releasing him

"I-I'm Harry."

"Harry…." Harry could see the joke about to roll off of Zayn's lips, and stopped him before he could say it.

"Don't make some pun about my name being ironic, I got enough stick about it from the guy at the front gate."

"Aaron? Yeah he's a bit of dick sometimes, you'll get used to it. Whereabouts in the UK are you from?"

"Cheshire."

"I've heard Cheshire's a nice place; why did you leave?" Zayn inquired.

"I need money for uni. The payment you get at a bakery wasn't going to cut it."

"I doubt this'll put a dent in it either."

"How many of us UK guys are there?" Harry asked Zayn as he followed him down a flight of stairs.

"There's about twenty of us, if you include our Irish lad, and now you. The girls are all prissy and think they're too good to work here, save for a few, they all hang out together. There's about eight of them. Then there's two groups of guys, there's one group, there's seven of them, and our group, there's three Brits, the Irish and now, you!"

"Really?" Harry was quite pleased that he'd managed to find himself a group of friends within an hour of arriving at Universal Studios.

"Well yeah, us roomies have to stick together."

Harry grinned. They had now left the humid Florida heat and entered what looked like a dingy block of flats, but smaller, so as to hide it from the children that are insisted that they "love Harry Potter!" and the parents dragging whingy pre-teens around by the wrists.

They took the stairs up to the third floor ("The lift stinks and always breaks down, it's like a little bit of home.") and as they passed one room, Zayn yelled, "Come and meet the new guy," before continuing two doors down and turning his key in the lock. As he opened the door he revealed a small room with two single beds, a wardrobe, a sink and a table with two chairs. The room probably had the capacity of twelve people. On the bright side, there was a window, so at least he could see the castle from the room. Still, to be quite honest, Harry had expected something a bit more magical.

Harry sat on the bed that was clearly unused and looked around. This would be his home for the next… well, no one knew really. But it would be his home for a period of time, so he'd better get used to it.

Zayn lay on his bed to retrieve his charging phone from underneath it, then placed it on top of the wardrobe. When Harry frowned at him, Zayn said, "There's no connection in this place, and that wardrobe is one of the only hotspots. Expect people flocking here to text their mates," and Harry nodded in understanding.

"Knock knock!" someone called as they entered the room.

"When I told you to start knocking, that wasn't how I meant it, Lou," Zayn groaned.

A brunette boy with a flicky fringe and a cheeky smile entered, as did a second brown haired boy who sat directly next to him.

"You love it," the boy winked, "Niall, quick!"

A blonde walked in and sat next to Zayn, giving Harry a toothy grin. Harry was left squashed up onto his pillow as the new faces took over the room.

"Okay, so that's Louis, it's probably for the best that you aren't sharing a room with him."

"He's kidding." Louis said as he shook Harry's hand (I'm not," Zayn said).

"That's Liam, he's a bit too nice for his own good, and he doesn't know the meaning of the word 'fun'."

"I do!" Liam adamantly announced, "I just prefer not to do stuff that could get me kicked out of the country, let alone the resort."

Zayn snorted, "Whatever Li. He also thinks he's better than everyone because he's a Gryffindor." Liam huffed and crossed his arms.

"And lastly, this little freak is Niall. He's our Irish lad."

"Alright?" Niall asked Harry, who nodded shyly.

Zayn looked quickly at Harry, who had his hoodie sleeves pulled up over his palms and was curled up. Everyone else turned to look at the curly haired boy too.

"W-what?"

The four boys laughed at Harry.

"Well then, I suppose you'll want to get a rest before tonight, so we'll leave you," Liam said.

"What happens tonight?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"You mean you don't know?" Louis grinned.

"No…?"

"Oh," Louis chuckled, "You'll find out. Trust me."


End file.
